I'm looking for some info about the activity we're seeing on our new hives. We got two Italian nucs about 6 weeks ago, they're well established in a deep and a western, and we just put another western on, as they were filling the frames well.
The Pacific NW has been cool so far this year, we're mostly in the mid-sixties, with only a couple sunny sunny days. Except for the most rainy days, every afternoon the bees seem to all come out of the hive, and just buzz around the entrance. They gather on the front as well, and we can see some drones coming out, but mostly workers. As the population has grown over the weeks, so has the wild party. They stay in this little frenzy for a half hour or so, then it dissipates and the activity goes back to normal.
We've watched for fighting and robbing, but it seems they are all getting along. Both hives do it, although not at the same time usually. And we don't see them fanning and staying right at the entrance.
It almost seems like what we've heard about swarming behavior, but the hives are so young and small, that from what we've read, it seems the wrong time.
What are they doing?